The effect of lithium administration in a diet on the chosen parameters of the antioxidant barrier in rats.

The reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated in metabolic processes can cause severe lesions. The organisms' defense constitutes the antioxidant barrier. Antioxidant enzymes glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) belong to its main constituents. Lithium is widely used in medicine but its administration can cause negative side-effects. Therefore, we investigated Li oral intoxication influence on SOD and GPx activity in serum and tissues of rats in the dependence on time (three-weeks and six-weeks). In serum SOD activity vs. control increased after three weeks and decreased after six, GPx activity vs. control was changed in reverse way--diminished after three weeks and enhanced after six. In tissues the changes were diverse. The most interesting results are: the decrease of both enzymes in the spleen, no changes of SOD in the brain, the enhanced GPx and diminished SOD in the kidney, the increased SOD in the liver vs. control during the whole experiment. In serum, femoral muscle and kidney during all the exposure the increment of one of enzymes was accompanied with the depletion of the other. The obtained outcomes allow to suggest that the lithium exposure resulted in antioxidant barrier disturbances in rats.